Prayer Requests From Vickie Richardson (Regional Prayer Coordinator, Africa):
Please pray for the country of Zimbabwe.

National elections were held last week but have not yet posted a winner. I received the following from our AIMer in Zimbabwe: “Urgent prayer request for the people of Zimbabwe that no blood will be shed, that we will not go to war with one another, and that God will give the people a God fearing man who will love and respect the people.”

Zimbabwe has gone through so much economical upheaval the past couple of years or so and we hate to see this political unrest as well. The people need our prayers.

From Alan Demos (Germany):
Please continue praying for Alexander Denk.

Dear friends and fellow ministers, Many of you received an urgent prayer request from my parents, Alan and Valerie Demos, late Saturday night. The assistant pastor for my father in Paderborn (Bro. Alexander Denk) who also serves as the pastor of the work in Nordheim, Germany was in a car accident.

He was returning from church with his 19-year old nephew, Sasha, and Sasha was killed instantly in the accident. I am writing to give you an update, because my parents are unable to at this time and I am sure that many of you would be willing to continue standing beside us in prayer.

Bro. Alexander appears to be recovering, and his head injuries do not seem to be as life-threatening as initially thought. He did lose blood from his brain, but is talking and now knows the circumstances surrounding the accident.

1) Pray for Alexander's continued recovery and that there are no further complications surrounding the injuries he sustained in the accident. As Alexander was told of Sasha's death on Sunday morning, he began to grieve and ask why he should not have been the one taken! This precious pastor and son in the Lord will face many dark days ahead of questioning and grief.

2) Pray that Alexander will be strengthened in his spirit and that the enemy will gain no stronghold in his mind through this tragic turn of events. The death of Sasha has left the entire Denk family and my parents completely devastated. Young Sasha was the bright and shining star of his family and his church. He was a sincere, dedicated young man with a call to preach. He was one of just a handful of youth leaders in the entire country of Germany. In my Mom's heartbroken words, "He was not just a youth leader. He was the best one we had in Germany!"

Sasha typically did not travel with his uncle to the services in Nordheim, but had preached this particular day. In a country where they just began having youth camps a few years ago, there are just a handful of up-and-coming young people with a call to preach, thus a loss of this magnitude feels devastating.

3) Pray for the country of Germany, that God will not allow HIS work to be done. Pray for the youth in the Paderborn church who have lost their cousin, brother, friend and dynamic example.

4) Finally, as men and women who have a special fondness in your hearts for my Mom and Dad, please pray for them. They are grieving so deeply today. This is perhaps one of the greatest losses they have experienced in their ministry, and their hearts are broken. Today as I talked to them on the phone, they wept and wept.

In the dark of this hour, it feels that they have lost a son, lost a future giant for the Kingdom of God, and lost the momentum they were feeling in this field of labor. Pray for their strength and comfort.

On Thursday, my Dad conducted Sasha's funeral. Thank you for the time you have spent to read this, and we covet your prayers as a family. May GOD somehow receive great glory out of our pain.

Praise Reports

Charles Robinette (Austria) reports:
“We just finished in Norway. We had the altar workers training on Friday and then Saturday and Sunday morning service. God filled 26 with the Holy Spirit and about 10 were baptized in Jesus’ name.

Three got the Holy Spirit during the altar workers seminar.”

From Tremayne and Vicki Simoneaux (Zimbabwe/Malawi/Mozambique/Africa’s Children):
Friday the 21st of March 2008 was really a Good Friday in Zimbabwe. Ministers came to the UPC Zimbabwe conference from all over the country, despite rising transport cost, shortage of fuel and an environment that can be intimidating to move around the country.

For sometime the church in Zimbabwe has been plagued with problems. In February 2008, the ministers voted for a restructure of the work. On Good Friday all licensed ministers licenses became void and reapplication for licenses was needed. Forty-nine ministers were approved for licenses on this day. It was a great show of unity and a mandate for a New Day within the church. It was estimated that only about 150 would be able to attend the conference due to the hardship of the country. What a joy it was to see over 450 in attendance. It was a challenge getting the extra food on such short notice but with help of some of the ministers no one went hungry. There was such a feeling of excitement in every service and even in the fellowship time.

We were all challenged to go forward and not look to the past. The time for mourning is over and a great time of rejoicing was had! During the Sunday service there was a children's church held out under the trees. It was great seeing one of our pastors’ wives leading the children through the great Easter story. At the end of the lesson 10 children received the wonderful Gift of the Holy Sppirit. To God be the glory! We are not really trying to 'change' our world, we are just trying to 'reach' our world one child at a time.We would ask that you continue to pray for the work of God in Zimbabwe